Thread: Hardbaits for Gills ?

I use beetlespins and rooster tails sometimes, mostly as a search bait. I’ve used Rapala floaters in the past but I admit, I’m not that patient. Even fly rod topwater strains my limited patience. My take on them is that they need to stay motionless for 15 seconds or more and they’ll get aggravated and smack it. My limited experience with smallies drive this home. I have some micro cranks and micro rattle trap looking baits that haven’t been wet yet. I’m a lot like you in this. It ain’t broke, why fix it.

My favorite small top water is the storm hopper popper. I love throwing it around in the river around this time of year. The redbreast flat out wreck it. I’ll take a pic of them when I get home.

I'm a jig guy but if I had to choose a bait other than a jig it would be a beetle spin type of bait since I've used them a lot in my early years with good success.

1/16 oz. Z-man flashback mini chatterbait. Will catch just about anything that swims in freshwater. I use a Charlie Brewer 1 1/2" crappie grub, or Z-man shad fryz and baby ballerz as trailers.

I spent about an hour this morning checking my micro crankbaits to see if they would float .
I want them to float to use them as a topwater bait .
I plan on casting it out , let it sit , twitch a few times . Maybe wind a couple feet , stop , and let it rise , twitch .
Found about six out approximately fifty that floated .

Most trout spoons will do really well for gills. Think like Forest Miu spoons up to around 3 grams. Mine have single barbless hooks on them.

Same goes for spinners. I recommend making the treble hooks barbless for easier unhooking.

Any crankbait under 50mm and especially under 45mm will work. The sort of stuff on the smaller end of the spectrum for trout fishing. Megabass Great Hunting Humpback, Duo Realis Mid Roller 40F, OSP Tiny Blitz (lots of depth options), Lucky Craft Pointer 48. I think JDM stuff is far superior to Rapala, but I have a soft spot for their Mini Fat Rap. There's way more out there as well. I suggest replacing all the hooks with inline single hooks or making the trebles barbless for easier unhooking and not messing up a gill's tiny mouth.

Spoons/spinners are incredible at times. Better than minijigs. Small crankbaits are definitely more of a challenge, but they may find you more bass or crappie depending on the water you're fishing.

Originally Posted by gillchaser999

I spent about an hour this morning checking my micro crankbaits to see if they would float .
I want them to float to use them as a topwater bait .
I plan on casting it out , let it sit , twitch a few times . Maybe wind a couple feet , stop , and let it rise , twitch .
Found about six out approximately fifty that floated .

You're in luck. OSP makes a 2" wake crankbait called the "Buzzin Crank". Dives 0-2 inches.

I’m kinda scared to tie on the tiny spoons I have. They’d probably have a very short life span. Where I fish is mostly less than 2’ and downed trees everywhere. Low visibility makes most of them phantom snags and new ones with every strong wind.

Micropoppers should work….